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That's it. I give up. I'm saying "Uncle." Ergonomic keyboards aren't for me, and I have to wonder how many of you feel the same way.

Yes, ergonomic keyboards are lovely. They're often designed elegantly, with those center keys that rise up to meet your fingers. My hands, when at rest, tend to tilt outwards (to the left and right), and placing my palms parallel on a standard keyboard does not feel natural or comfortable. So, you would think an ergonomic keyboard would suit me. Not so. I can't use this thing any longer and, honestly, it wasn't my idea to try it in the first place.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft came to PC Mag's offices to show off its latest set of wireless mice and keyboards. All have highly ergonomic designs. The new mouse is akin to a multibuttoned ball (not very appealing to me, by the way), and the ergonomic keyboard, which the company first introduced as the "Natural Keyboard" in 1995, is becoming curvier by the minute. The newest keyboard models have an exaggerated hand rest that curves even further out in the center to meet your palms. Microsoft also festoons the keyboards with shortcut buttons, system and volume controls, buttons to manage Web-page browsing, and more.

Nice, but I didn't want one.

A couple of days after Microsoft's visit, I arrived in my office to find my trusty old flat traditional keyboard had been replaced withyou got ita Microsoft Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard. The keyboard is so much taller than my old one that I thought it was sitting on top of it, but no, it was simply the new keyboard, waiting for me, daring me to use it.

I had a boatload of work to do that morning, so instead of hunting around for the hidden keyboard, I set to work using the new one. I learned something very important right up front. Ergonomic keyboards, with their split-key design (left-hand keys on the left and right-hand keys on the right, with a big no-man's land in between), are made for real typists. That's not me.

I took one typing course back in junior high and that was probably the last time my index fingers rested on the home keys. When I type, which is often and for hours on end, I hunt and peck. Actually, I just peck, since I rarely look at my hands any more, and I peck at breakneck speeds. I also do something that's pretty much verboten for ergonomic keyboards: crossovers. My right hand will touch the keys on the left and vice versa.

The ergonomic keyboard has put an end to all this, especially crossovers, since the keys are so far apart that my right hand would need to take a bus to get to the left side. The result is that I'm typing slower and more poorly than I have in years.next: Ergonomics in General >

A 25-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance Ulanoff is the former Editor in Chief of PCMag.com.
Lance Ulanoff has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases, ?on line? meant ?waiting? and CPU speeds were measured in single-digit megahertz. He?s traveled the globe to report on a vast array of consumer and business technology.
While a digital veteran, Lance spent his early years writing for newspapers and magazines. He?s been online since 1996 and ran Web sites for three national publications: HomePC, Windows Magazine...
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